THE MINISTRY of Economy and Finance called Monday for pawnbrokers to apply for licences following a prakas, or edict, signed this month. In an announcement in the Khmer-language press, the ministry said it would issue the US$250 annual licences until the end of March. “We have opened for those who have the ability to obtain a licence because we want to bring them within areas in which they are under control,” said Mey Vann, director of the Financial Industries Department. New rules say pawnshops must have minimum capital of 200 million riels (US$50,000), and that interest rates will be capped at 5 percent.